Bathinda, July 25
The sudden death of an under trial, Gursewak Singh (43), in the central jail here this morning triggered protests by the inmates who accused the prison authorities of ill treatment and overcrowding of barracks.

Gursewak Singh was facing trial on the charges of attempt to murder and was lodged in the jail since January 16. He was reportedly unwell since Friday when the inmates ended their hunger strike against the slow progress of their trials.

The inmates started raising slogans against the jail authorities early in the morning when they came to know about the death of Gursewak. There was some skirmish in which three undertrials were injured and they were shifted to the civil hospital for treatment.

Deputy commissioner Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said that he has ordered a magisterial enquiry into the incident. SDM KPS Mahi would inquire into the incident.

Harminder Singh, a fireman in the fire services department, who is younger brother of the deceased, suspected foul play and has demanded a high-level enquiry into his death.

The jail inmates refused to take breakfast and lunch as a mark of protest against functioning of the jail staff.

Jail superintendent SS Saggu (in civvies) is also seen in the picture; an undertrial, who fainted during the protest, being taken to a hospital. Tribune photographs

One of the injured Balbir Singh said that Gursewak was admitted to the jail hospital last night and his death in the morning came as a shock to the inmates. Gursewak was on hunger strike till Friday demanding quick disposal of cases as per the orders of the Supreme Court.

The protesting inmates pointed out that against the capacity of about 700, there were about 1750 under trials and convicts in the jail that was causing acute stuffiness in the barracks.

Jail doctor Gurmail Singh claimed that Gursewak had died due to a massive cardiac arrest and “had a family history of heart ailments”. The doctor said that Gursewak had banana and tea in the jail hospital before he suffered a heart attack. He died while being rushed to the civil hospital.

Rajpura, July 25
Two residents of Patiala have been arrested with 13 fake detailed mark sheets (DMC) of Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. All the 13 DMCs mention Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Bassi as the institute’s name, according to the cops investigating this case.

The accused have been identified as Taranjeet Singh and Manpreet Singh, both residents of Ranjit Singh Nagar, Patiala. They were arrested on Saturday from near the bus stand of Jansua village in Rajpura. Rajpura DSP Manmohan Sharma said that the accused were in their early thirties, were arrested after a tip-off and 13 DMCs were recovered from their possession. However the printers, computers and other gadgets with which they had been preparing these degrees are yet to be recovered.

The police officials said that all these degrees are issued between 2004 and 2008 of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering of various semesters. The Sadar police station in charge Daljit Singh Virk said that all those students whose names are printed on these mark sheets have also been identified.

He said that the mark sheets bear all necessary stamps of the university including the signatures of the controller and the examiner. The police officials said that they would soon dispatch a team of cops to the university to enquire into matter. Besides this, all 13 students would also be interrogated in the due course of investigation.

The paper used to make these degrees appears original and the possibility of involvement of some insiders from PTU can not be ruled out. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused had been selling the detailed mark for Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.

It is also suspected that accused further got these DMCs entered into the university records and charged Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 extra for the same. A case under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC at the Sadar police station against both these accused was registered and they were sent to two days of police remand. They would be produced in court tomorrow.

Amritsar, July 25
The police had to face a tough time today to control over 800 qualified pharmacists associated with rural dispensaries across the state, who gathered in the city to block the passage leading to the house of Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura located opposite to Khalsa College here.

The situation became tense when the minister refused to listen to them. The police had to resort to a mild lathicharge to prevent pharmacists to reach the house of the minister, leaving many with minor injuries from both sides.

State president of the Rural Health Pharmacists Association Satpal Cheema said due to faulty policy in engaging doctors for rural dispensaries, pharmacists had been left at the mercy of these doctors.

Doctors, who have been directly engaged through a contract with the government, allegedly underpay pharmacists and class IV workers in dispensaries.

There are around 1,193 dispensaries in rural areas of the state. As per existing norms, the government has entered into a contract with Rural Medical Officers (RMOs) under Zila Parishads on a monthly package of Rs 37,720 to run dispensaries.

Further, it has been a mandatory norm to appoint one pharmacist and one class IV employee in each dispensary on a fixed remuneration of Rs 6,200 and Rs 2,500, respectively.

Since the total monthly package comes directly in the account of contractual doctors, it becomes total discretion of doctors to pay pharmacists and class IV out of this package.

Kamajeet Singh Chauhan, district president of the association, said “Majority of doctors cheat us. They release cheques only after getting Rs 2,000 in cash from each pharmacist”.

The pharmacists have demanded regular pay scales and perks as fixed for doctors. They announced a 15-day ultimatum to redress their grievances, otherwise they would intensify their agitation. 

Jalandhar, July 25
The health authorities today diagnosed a fresh case of swine flu in the state. This is the first such case reported in the past five months, as the last case of the disease in the state was diagnosed in February, this year.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Deepak Bhatia, state nodal officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, confirmed that Lovepreet Singh (17) of Lamma Pind, near Jalandhar, has been tested positive for H1N1 today at the Regional Testing Laboratory, Department of Virology, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

He said the patient was admitted to Patel Hospital, Jalandhar, with symptoms of cough, fever and dyspnoea on July 21.

“Suspecting to be a case of swine flu, the Jalandhar health authorities sent the blood samples to PGI on July 23. The laboratory confirmed the test result as positive this morning,” Dr Bhatia said. He said the blood samples of two suspected swine flu patients from Ludhiana and Mohali each, were also tested in the past week but found negative.

Jalandhar, July 25
For the century-old New Egerton Wollen Mill located at Dhariwal, near Batala in Gurdaspur district, July 27 is a crucial day. The case for rehabilitating the mill would come up before the Board For the Reconstruction of the Public Sector Enterprises( BRPSE). Its rehabilitation could give a big boost to the economy of the border belt of Gurdaspur, an area which had once become a hot-bed of militancy.

The mill which employed thousands of workers, functioned under the control of the British India Corporation Limited (BIC) and was known in the international market for the tweeds and shawls manufactured in it. The Union Government acquired the mill in 1981 and handed it over to the Ministry of Textiles.

Since no effort was made to modernise it, the mill was in the red. Now it manufactures material worth only a few crores and is almost on the verge of closure. It can be revived into full production mode by spending a few crores. Employment can be generated for people in the crucial border belt where employment opportunities are otherwise minimal.

“I have written both to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran for the rehabilitation of the mill at the earliest. It could produce woollen material for our defence and paramilitary forces as well as cater to the civilian population,” according to Partap Singh Bajwa, Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur.

P.K. Sharma, general manager of the mill said that with the installation of modern machinery, the production capacity of woollen stuff could be increased to Rs 100 crore within a period of two to three years. Bajwa said that the 972 skilled workers on the mills’ rolls faced a bleak future due to its declining manufacturing capacity. It produced goods worth Rs 6 crore in 2005-06, Rs 2 crore next year and Rs 30 lakh in 2009-10 for defence forces.

Besides Dhariwal, there is another mill at Kanpur. The BIFR had approved the revival of both the mills in 2002 and the Ministry of Textiles had fully backed the proposal. The Union Government was to give Rs 87 crore for renovation of machinery and to deal with bank loans. The working capital of Rs 125 crore was to be managed by selling a part of the property of Kanpur mill. However, the property could not be sold due to technical bottlenecks.

A modified plan for revival was prepared in 2008 and it was approved by the BIFR. The Ministry of Textiles had taken the responsibility for doing so. Bajwa said that he had approached the Prime Minister for getting the mill revival proposal approved from the Union Cabinet and to provide requisite funds for this purpose.

Nawanshahr, July 25
State president of the ETT Adhiyapak Union, Punjab, Jaswinder Singh Sidhu said today that “the union would hold a mashaal march at the district headquarters from July 26 and light candles in front of residences of ministers to bring them out of darkness and submit memorandums to intensify their stir to press the state government to bring their services under the jurisdiction of the state Education Department.” Sidhu was addressing a district-level convention of the union here.

“If the state government fails to accept their demand by August 15, then the union would not let the Chief Ministet and his ministers to speak at any public meeting,” he said while resolving to make any sacrifice for achieving the goal. The union has already launched ‘Non-Cooperation with the Education Department’ on July 1 till the acceptance of their demand.

Besides, the union would also hold dharnas in front of the offices of zila parishads and BDPOs to protest against the notices being issued to them.

Bhupinder Singh Warraich, state president, Democratic Teachers Front; Sheetal Singh Chahal, state general secretary, Government Primary Secondary Teachers Union; Iqbal Singh (GTU) and Balbir Khanpuri (DTF) were among those who spoke on the occasion. — OC

Faridkot, July 25
Two young men guarding an overflowing drain were crushed to death under a train as they fell asleep on the nearby railway track at Veerewala village on the outskirts of Faridkot town late last night.

The deceased have been identified as Balwinder Singh of Mai Godri Sahib Colony and Pappi Singh of Veerewala village.

Villagers reported to the police that these youths were keeping an eye on the overflowing Langeana drain, which has created panic among the local residents for the past over one week during rains. This drain had already submerged at least 2,500 acres of paddy field falling in the nearby villages of Kallowala, Veerewala, Machakima Singh Wala, Kameana, Dagro Romana and other adjoining villages.

Villagers stated that with the drain flowing above its danger mark, residents of Mai Godri Sahib Colony and Veerewala village decided on their own to sit on a rotational basis to guard the drain.

Jagir Singh, father of Balwinder, said his son and one of his friends had been sitting on guard for the past three days and nights. “I had told them to come home and take rest but they kept saying that they had to guard their crop and, hence, will not sleep till the water receded,” he said.

The police had initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC into the incident. These youths were the only sons of their family. Balwinder is survived by his wife and a three-year-old son.

Local executive magistrate Atam Singh visited the spot and expressed his condolence to the families of the deceased youths.

However, residents were agitated over the incident. They alleged that this drain had never been cleaned either by the Department of Public Health or the district administration in the past many years. Since it got blocked at various places, it overflowed and posed a danger to the adjoining areas.

Ropar, July 25
An unknown person’s photograph has been found pasted on the foreign registration certificate issued by the Bangalore police in the name of German national Thomas Kuehn, who was arrested from Nangal on spy charges.

The Ropar police seized these documents during raids conducted recently at the residence of Russian national Olga Timoshik, an alleged accomplice of Thomas, from her house in Vaishali Nagar in Jaipur.

The police is trying to establish the identity of the foreign national whose photograph has been found pasted on the document issued in name of Thomas. The Superintendent of Police-cum-FRO, Bangalore, has issued this certificate.

“We are exploring various quarters from where the identity of the person in the photograph can be established. This clearly shows that details of Thomas Kuehn were used to fabricate documents having a photograph of someone else,” a police official pointed out.

Also from Olga’s house, two residential permits were found issued by the office of the Bangalore SP dated November 30, 2007, in the name of Thomas Kuehn, whereas Thomas has been living in Nangal for the last three years.

The Bangalore police official, whose stamp is marked on the document is also under scanner. The police is also confirming the authenticity of all documents from the visa issuance authority.

It is expected that the mystery of Kuehn’s passport, which has been missing since the arrest of Thomas, will be solved only after knowing the identity of this person.

Patiala, July 25
Punjab DGP PS Gill has said that globally, cyber terrorism is considered a threat at par with nuclear, bacteriological and chemical weapons. He further said cyber crime and terrorism should be put on the list of the topmost problems.

Releasing a CD on cyber crime on the inaugural function of a three-day course on “Cyber and Computer Crime Investigation for Police Officers” organised by the Forensic Science Department, Punjabi University, here yesterday, Gill asserted: “A comprehensive training to the police officers at all levels is necessary to address this problem”.

Gill said in India, criminals and terrorists had used technology with the sole aim of evading the tight conventional surveillance systems of the police and intelligence agencies.

“Organised crime syndicates are now recruiting tech-savvy people to disrupt the systems of computer servers for ransom, stealing data and selling it on premium basis to its rivals,” he added.

The three generic causes for difficulties in combating high-tech crime are sluggishness involved in a programmatic governmental response in tackling menace like high-tech crime, the advancement of cyber forensics and its usage by criminals, and lack of cooperation from the Internet service providers located in other countries.Gill along with Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh had inaugurated the cyber and computer forensics laboratory in the Forensic Science Department here.

Dr Jaspal said criminals had become hi-tech and hence, the police needed academic assistance to tackle them.

Patiala, July 25
The Theatre Department of Punjabi University, Patiala, will soon begin an initiative to de-stress farmers, the police and prisoners. The University Grants Commission has issued a grant of Rs 20 lakh to the department for a major research project “Reducing stress through theatre” under which the department will organise workshops in Punjab and other states as well.

Giving information in this regard, the head of the Theatre Department, Sunita Dheer, said theatre had always been a powerful medium for releasing stress.

The project has been allotted to Dr Yogesh Gambhir and he is the project director. Through this project, the Theatre Department will try to help those in distress due to various problems. Throwing light on the project, Dr Yogesh said this project would be beneficial, as through this, the department would try to understand the problems of others and find their solutions too.

The department has recently organised a workshop at a school in Ludhiana and Kasauli. The next research is being conducted in Madhuban jail.

After this, a play on the harassment of women cops will be presented. Dr Yogesh further said after three months, a 10-day workshop would be conducted in Central Jail, Patiala, and another 15-day workshop would be conducted for farmers.

Under this, the body language of prisoners, the police and farmers will be studied. Their ideas would also be studied and they would be taught acting.